Stewart, All I can say is that K2 SN 00020 is working fine after 5 years with no relay problems, and in all the K2s that I have worked on, I have found only one relay failure.
Relay contact failure can also be prevented by using relays that possess wiping contacts. I know not how much wiping action exists on the latching relays used in the K2, but they are speced by the manufacturer (Omron G6H relay data sheet) for 100 million operations with 50 milliohms maximum contact resistance. The contacts are gold plated silver and I would believe they should not normally need cleaning by means of a DC bias. Perhaps another couple years on the K2 will give a comparison with the experience with your MP1000 - only time will tell the true tale. 73, Don W3FPR > -----Original Message----- > ... > This morning I modified the HPF board to run about 1mA through > the contacts. > 10 resistors and 2 caps later - End of problem - Fixed.... > > The big relays in the KAT100 should not have a problem, but what > about the > smaller ones in the K2, KAT2 ? As far a I can tell a number of > these have only > very small AC signals passing through them. None have any DC current flow. > > It took about 7 years before the problem surfaced with my > FT1000MP, I would be > interested in comments on whether in the same time scale I might > expect to get > similar problems with my Elecraft gear. > > 73 > Stewart G3RXQ > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
